Portable electronic device

ABSTRACT

A portable electronic device includes a display unit; an input detection unit that detects an input to the display unit, and a lock control unit that sets or releases a locked state for a part or all of functions of the portable electronic device when a predetermined input is detected by the input detection unit, wherein the predetermined input includes inputs, in which a preset screen operation is continuously performed by a predetermined number of times in an area of the display unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/683,715 filed on Nov. 21, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,948,820, whichclaims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-257574 filedon Nov. 25, 2011, the entire subject matter of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to a portable electronic device capable oflocking a part or all of functions thereof.

BACKGROUND

It is known that a portable electronic device such as mobile phoneswitches display and non-display of a specific item (for example,folder) on a screen as a user inputs a handwritten pattern, from astandpoint of security. In this electronic device, a handwritten patternis preset by performing a tracing operation on a touch panel, forexample, and the display/non-display of the specific item is switchedwhen the input handwritten pattern coincides with the preset handwrittenpattern. (for example, refer to JP-A-2011-8697)

SUMMARY

According to the background portable electronic device, in order toswitch the display/non-display (release/setting of a security lock), itis necessary to input a handwritten pattern on the touch panel byperforming the same tracing operation as when the handwritten patternhas been set, i.e., by tracing the same positions along the same trackas when the handwritten pattern has been set. Therefore, a recognitionerror is easy to occur and the user should carefully input thehandwritten pattern, so that a user's burden is increased. In themeantime, when the handwritten pattern to be preset is simplified so asto reduce the user's burden, a security level is lowered.

Therefore, there is a need for a portable electronic device possible toset or release a locked state without burdening a user while maintaininga constant security level.

In view of the above, the portable electronic device according to oneaspect of this discloser comprises: a display unit; an input detectionunit that detects an input to the display unit, and a lock control unitthat sets or releases a locked state for a part or all of functions ofthe portable electronic device when a predetermined input is detected bythe input detection unit. The predetermined input includes inputs, inwhich a preset screen operation is continuously performed by apredetermined number of times in an area of the display unit.

Further, the portable electronic device according to another one aspectof this discloser comprise: a display unit; an input detection unit thatdetects an input to the display unit, and a lock control unit that setsor releases a locked state for a part or all of functions of theportable electronic device when a predetermined input is detected by theinput detection unit. The predetermined input includes inputs, in whicha plurality of preset screen operations is sequentially performed inpredetermined order in an area of the display unit.

According to the portable electronic device of this disclosure, it ispossible to set or release a locked state with a user's burden beingreduced while maintaining a constant security level.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and additional features and characteristics of thisdisclosure will become more apparent from the following detaileddescriptions considered with the reference to the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an outward appearance of a portableelectronic device according to an illustrative embodiment of thisdisclosure, wherein FIG. 1A is a perspective view seen from a facethereof and FIG. 1B is a perspective view seen from a backside thereof;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an electrical configuration of theportable electronic device shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A to 3C illustrate a state where a user performs a slideoperation on a touch panel to release a locked state;

FIGS. 4A to 4H illustrate a state where display on a display is changedwhile the user is executing the operation shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C;

FIG. 5 illustrates a setting screen by which the user sets theoperation, which has been described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, asa release operation of the locked state;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing locked state releasing processing that isexecuted by a processor;

FIGS. 7A to 7H illustrate a method of releasing a locked state in aportable electronic device according to a second illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a setting screen with which the user sets a releaseoperation of a locked state; and

FIGS. 9A to 9F illustrate a method of setting a locked state in aportable electronic device according to a third illustrative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, illustrative embodiments of this disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Illustrative Embodiment

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrates an outward appearance of a portableelectronic device according to a first illustrative embodiment of thisdisclosure, and FIG. 1A is a perspective view seen from a face thereofand FIG. 1B is a perspective view seen from a backside thereof. As shownin FIG. 1A, a smart phone may be exemplified as a portable electronicdevice 10 according to this illustrative embodiment. However, theportable electronic device of this disclosure may be a conventionalmobile phone, a tablet terminal, a PDA and the like.

The portable electronic device 10 includes a housing 12 having a flatrectangular shape that is long in a vertical direction. One main plane(right face) of the housing 12 is provided with a display 14 such asliquid crystal or organic EL. A touch panel 16 is provided on thedisplay 14. Therefore, according to the portable electronic device 10 ofthis illustrative embodiment, most of input operations except for a hardkey operation (which will be described later) are performed on the touchpanel 16.

Also, as shown in FIG. 1A, a speaker 18 is embedded on the face at oneend portion of the housing 12 in the vertical direction and a microphone20 is embedded on the face at the other end portion.

Additionally, the portable electronic device 10 shown in FIG. 1 isprovided with a call key 22, a call ending key 24 and a menu key 26 as ahard key configuring an input operation unit together with the touchpanel 16.

For example, a user can perform a touch operation for a dial keydisplayed on the display 14 by using the touch panel 16 to input atelephone number and thus operate the call key 22 to start a voice call.The user can end the voice call by operating the call ending key 24. Inthe meantime, the user can turn on/off a power supply of the portableelectronic device 10 by long pressing the call ending key 24.

Also, when the user operates the menu key 26, a menu screen is displayedon the display 14. At this state, when the user performs the touchoperation on the touch panel 16 for a soft key, a menu icon and the likedisplayed on the display 14, a menu is selected and the selection isconfirmed.

In the meantime, the menu key 26 may function as a shutter key orimaging key when the portable electronic device 10 is set as a cameramode.

Also, the other main plane (backside) of the housing 12 is provided witha lens opening 28. In the portable electronic device 10 shown in FIGS.1A and 1B, when taking a photograph by using a camera module, the userfocuses the camera opening 28 on a subject for photography and operatesthe menu key 26 functioning as an imaging key.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an electrical configuration of theportable electronic device 10 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, theportable electronic device 10 includes a processor 30 called as acomputer or CPU. The processor 30 is connected with a wirelesscommunication circuit 32, an A/D converter 34, a D/A converter 36, aninput device 38, a display driver 40, a flash memory 42, a RAM 44, atouch panel control circuit 46, a camera module 48 and the like.

The processor 30 entirely controls the portable electronic device 10. Inthe RAM 44, a part or all of programs preset in the flash memory 42 aredeveloped upon using thereof. The processor 30 operates in response tothe programs on the RAM 44. In the meantime, the RAM 44 may be also usedas a working area or buffer area of the processor 30.

The input device 38 includes the touch panel 16 and the hard keys 22,24, 25 shown in FIG. 1 and configures the operation unit or input unit.The information (key data) of the hard key operated by the user is inputto the processor 30.

The wireless communication circuit 32 is a circuit for transmitting andreceiving a voice call, a mail and the like via an antenna 50. In theillustrative embodiment, the wireless communication circuit 32 is acircuit for performing wireless communication with a CDMA method. Forexample, when the user operates the input device 38 to instruct a phonecall (call request), the wireless communication circuit 32 executesphone call processing and outputs a phone call signal via the antenna 50under control of the processor 30. The phone call signal is transmittedto an opponent phone via a base station and a communication network.When call receiving processing is performed in the opponent phone, acommunication possible state is established and the processor 30executes call processing.

Specifically describing the typical call processing, a modulated voicesignal transmitted from the opponent phone is received by the antenna50. The received modulated voice signal is demodulated and decoded bythe wireless communication circuit 32. Then, the received voice signalobtained by the processing is converted into a voice signal by the D/Aconverter 36, and then it is output from the speaker 18. In themeantime, a transmission voice signal received via the microphone 20 isconverted into voice data by the A/D converter 34, and then it is givento the processor 30. The voice data is encoded and modulated by thewireless communication circuit 32 under control of the processor 30,which is then output via the antenna 50. Therefore, the modulated voicesignal is transmitted to the opponent phone via the base station andcommunication network.

Also, when the phone call signal transmitted from the opponent phone isreceived by the antenna 50, the wireless communication circuit 32notifies the processor 30 of the call arrival (incoming call). Thereby,the processor 30 controls the display driver 40 to display transmissionsource information (phone number and the like), which is described inthe arrival notification. Also, almost simultaneously, the processor 30outputs a bell sound (which is also referred to as a ringing melody, aringing voice and the like) from the speaker 18.

Then, when the user performs a response operation by using the call key22 (refer to FIG. 1) included in the input device 38, the wirelesscommunication circuit 32 executes call possible state establishmentprocessing under control of the processor 30. Also, the call possiblestate is established, and then the processor 30 executes theabove-described typical call processing.

Also, when a call ending operation is performed by the call ending key24 (refer to FIG. 1) included in the input device 38 after the callpossible state, the processor 30 controls the wireless communicationcircuit 32 to transmit a call ending signal to the call opponent. Aftertransmitting the call ending signal, the processor 30 ends the callprocessing. Also, when the call ending signal is first received from thecall opponent, the processor 30 also ends the call processing. Also,when the call ending signal is received from the mobile communicationnetwork irrespective of the call opponent, the processor 30 ends thecall processings.

The A/D converter 34 is connected with the microphone 20 shown inFIG. 1. As described above, the voice signal from the microphone 20 isinput to the processor 30 via the A/D converter 34, as the digital voicedata. The D/A converter 36 is connected with the speaker 18. The D/Aconverter 34 converts the digital voice data into a voice signal andprovides the same to the speaker 18 via an amplifier. Therefore, thevoice of the voice data is output from the speaker 18.

In the meantime, the processor 30 can control an amplification factor ofthe amplifier connected to the D/A converter 36, in response to a volumeoperation of the user, for example, thereby adjusting a volume of thevoice to be output from the speaker 18.

The display driver 40 is connected with the display 14 shown in FIG. 1A,so that the display 14 displays an image in accordance with image dataoutput from the processor 30. That is, the display driver 40 controlsthe display of the display 14 connected to the display driver 40 undercontrol of the processor 30. Also, the display driver 40 includes avideo memory that temporarily stores therein image data to be displayed.The display 14 is provided with a backlight having LEDs as a lightsource, for example. The display driver 40 controls brightness (forexample, luminance) and lighting/turn-off of the backlight under controlof the processor 30, and then a display panel of the display 14 isilluminated.

The touch panel control circuit 46 is connected with the touch panel 16shown in FIG. 1. The touch panel control circuit 46 provides, to theprocessor 30, a necessary supply voltage to the touch panel 16 andinputs a touch start signal indicating a touch start of a user on thetouch panel 16, a touch ending signal indicating a touch end of a userand coordinate data indicative of a touch position touched by a user.Thus, the processor 30 can determine an icon or key that is touched by auser, based on the coordinate data.

In the illustrative embodiment, the touch panel 16 is an electrostaticcapacity type touch panel that detects a change of an electrostaticcapacity between electrodes, which is caused as an object such as fingercomes close to a face. For example, the touch panel 16 detects that oneor more fingers touch the touch panel 16. Also, the touch panel 16 is apointing device that is provided on the display 14 and points anyposition in a screen thereof. The touch panel control circuit 46 detectsa touch operation within a touch-effective range of the touch panel 16and outputs coordinate data indicative of a position of the touchoperation to the processor 30. That is, the user touches the face of thetouch panel 16 to input an operation position, an operation directionand the like to the portable electronic device 10.

In the meantime, the touch operation may be performed by a stylus penand the like, without limiting to the finger. Also, regarding thedetection method of the touch panel 16, a surface electrostatic capacitytype, a resistance film type, an ultrasonic type, an infrared type, anelectromagnetic induction type and the like may be also adopted.

According to the portable electronic device 10 of this illustrativeembodiment, it is possible to lock a part or all of the functions of theportable electronic device 10, from a standpoint of security. Whenexecuting the locked function again, it is possible to release thelocked state. In the below, a method of releasing a locked state in theportable electronic device 10 is described.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a method of releasing a locked state in theportable electronic device 10. FIGS. 3A to 3C illustrate a state where auser performs a slide operation on the touch panel 16 to release alocked state and FIGS. 4A to 4H illustrate a state where a screen on thedisplay 14 is changed while the user is executing the operation shown inFIGS. 3A to 3C. The slide operation is an operation in which the userslides the finger along an arbitrary direction while touching the touchpanel 16. After the detection of the touch position to the touch panel16, the slide operation is detected by the processor 30 if the touchposition is moved over a predetermined second length or more. As shownin FIGS. 3A to 3C, the user can release the locked state by performing aplurality of slide operations in a right or left direction on the touchpanel 16. The specific operation is as follows.

For example, when all functions of the portable electronic device 19 areat the locked state, a screen indicating that all functions are lockedis displayed on the display 14, as shown in FIG. 4A. Here, when allfunctions are locked, all functions cannot be executed unless the userperforms an operation of releasing the locked state. The user whoconfirms the locked state performs a slide operation in the rightdirection on the touch panel 14 (refer to FIG. 3A). At this time, asshown in FIG. 4B, a screen indicating that the rightward slide operationis being performed is displayed on the display 14. This indicates thatthe rightward slide operation is detected by the touch panel controlcircuit 46. Thus, the user can know that the operation being currentlyperformed is correctly recognized by the portable electronic device 10,by seeing the screen.

When the slide operation is completed, ‘R1’ indicating that therightward slide operation has been performed is displayed on the display14, as shown in FIG. 4C. ‘R1’ indicates that the just previous operationis a first slide operation and is a rightward slide operation.

Then, the user again performs the rightward slide operation on the touchpanel (refer to FIG. 3B). At this time, as shown in FIG. 4D, a screenindicating that the rightward slide operation is being performed isdisplayed on the display 14. When the slide operation is completed, ‘R2’indicating that the just previous operation is a second slide operationand is a rightward slide operation is displayed on the display 14 (referto FIG. 4E).

Further, the user again performs a leftward slide operation on the touchpanel (refer to FIG. 3C). At this time, as shown in FIG. 4F, a screenindicating that the leftward slide operation is being performed isdisplayed on the display 14. When the slide operation is completed, ‘L3’indicating that the just previous operation is a third slide operationand is a leftward slide operation is displayed on the display 14 (referto FIG. 4G).

When the locked state of the portable electronic device 10 is releasedby the above screen operation, a screen indicating that the locked stateis released is displayed on the display 14, as shown in FIG. 4H.

Like this, according to the portable electronic device 10 of thisillustrative embodiment, the rightward and leftward slide operations areperformed in predetermined order, i.e., the rightward slide operation,the rightward slide operation and the leftward slide operation areperformed on the display 14, so that the locked state is released.

Here, when the coordinate data indicating the touch position touched bythe user is input by the touch panel control circuit 46, the processor30 determines the operating direction of the slide operation. When it isdetermined that the slide operations are performed in order of the rightdirection, the right direction and the left direction, based on theinput signal from the touch panel control circuit 46, the processor 30executes the processing of releasing the locked state, irrespective ofthe areas on the touch panel 16 in which the slide operations areperformed.

Therefore, according to the portable electronic device 10 of thisillustrative embodiment, in order to release the locked state, it is notnecessary to trace predetermined positions along a predetermined track,like the background pattern recognition. Thus, it is possible to releasethe locked state without burdening the user. Also, since the operationfor releasing the locked state consists of the simple screen operationsreferred to as the slide operations, it is possible to release thelocked state without burdening the user.

Also, according to the portable electronic device 10 of thisillustrative embodiment, it is necessary to perform the screenoperations in predetermined order to release the locked state. Thus, aconstant security level is maintained because the respective screenoperations are simple but the locked state cannot be simply released.

As described above, according to the portable electronic device 10 ofthis illustrative embodiment, it is possible to set or release thelocked state with a user's burden being reduced while maintaining theconstant security level.

In the portable electronic device 10, the input processes are displayedon the display, as shown in FIGS. 4B to 4G, after the input of the user,i.e., the slide operation starts until the same is completed. However,the display of the input processes may be omitted.

Also, in the portable electronic device 10, the operation information isdisplayed on the display 14 while the user is performing the slideoperations and after the user completes the slide operations. However, asound effect may be output, instead of the display on the display 14.For example, a different sound effect may be output in response to adirection of the slide operation during the slide operation or differentsound effects may be output during the slide operation and after theslide operation is completed. Also, a sound effect may be output duringthe slide operation and/or after the slide operation is completed.

Also, in case that a problem is caused if a sound effect is output inquiet circumstances, the portable electronic device 10 may be vibrated.Also in this case, like the above sound effect, a variety ofmodifications can be made. For example, the portable electronic devicemay be vibrated with a different frequency in response to a direction ofthe slide operation. Like this, when the sound effect or vibration isused, the user can know the operation that the user is currentlyperforming, without seeing the display 14. Therefore, it is alsopossible to release the locked state with the portable electronic device10 being put in a pocket.

FIG. 5 illustrates a setting screen by which the user sets theoperation, which has been described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, asthe release operation of the locked state. When the user selects a menu‘lock release setting’ from a menu selection screen, for example, a lockrelease setting screen is displayed on the display 14. Here, a symbol‘L’ means the leftward direction, and a symbol ‘R’ means the right warddirection.

As shown in FIG. 5, the lock release setting screen has a lockcode-number setting icon 60 for setting the number of lock codes, threedirection setting icons 61 for setting a direction of a slide operationand three number-of-times setting icons 62 for setting the number oftimes of slide operations. The number of lock codes indicates the totalnumber of slide operations necessary for releasing the locked state.Here, ‘three times’ is set as the number of lock codes.

The direction setting icons 61 and the number-of-times setting icons 62,which are displayed in a line, correspond to each other, and it ispossible to set the number of times of the respective slide operations.In the example of FIG. 5, when the rightward slide operation isperformed one time, the rightward slide operation is performed one timeand the leftward slide operation is performed one time, the locked statecan be released.

The direction setting icon 61 is switched between ‘right’ and ‘left’ asit is touched. The number-of-times setting icon 62 may be configured asit is touched, a plurality of numbers is displayed as an option and oneof them is selected.

Also, a release button 63 is displayed in the release setting screen.After performing the input operation by using the lock code numbersetting icons 60, the direction setting icons 61 and the number-of-timessetting icons 62, when the user presses the release button 62, theoperations input by the lock code number setting icons 60, the directionsetting icons 61 and the number-of-times setting icons 62 are set as therelease operations. In the meantime, the inputs performed by using therespective icons 60, 61, 62 may be displayed in a release operationdisplay area 64 so that the user can confirm the same.

Meanwhile, in the release setting screen, only the three directionsetting icons 61 are displayed. Therefore, when the number of lock codesis 4 or larger, ‘2’ is set in the number-of-times setting icon 62corresponding to the uppermost direction setting icon 61 in which‘right’ is set, ‘left’ is set in the direction setting icon 61 displayedat the center and ‘1’ is set in the number-of-times setting icon 62corresponding to the direction setting icon 61 in which ‘left’ is set,for example, so that it is possible to add a new slide operation byusing the direction setting icon 61 and the number-of-times setting icon62 displayed at the lowest. Like this, the user can appropriately setthe respective setting icons 61, 62 in correspondence to the number oflock codes. Also, the numbers of the direction setting icon 61 and thenumber-of-times setting icon 62 are not limited to ‘3’ and may bearbitrary number.

Subsequently, the locked state releasing processing that is executed bythe processor 30 is described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing lockedstate releasing processing that is executed by a processor. Here, areference numeral ‘N’ in FIG. 6 indicates the number of times of screenoperations that are performed by the user so as to release the lockedstate. The number of times is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM44 and is rewritten to increase one by one the processor 30 as the userperforms the screen operation. In the below, it is assumed that thenumber of lock codes is M (M is an integer of 2 or larger). Meanwhile,the number of lock codes M is set by the user in the release settingscreen of FIG. 5 and is then stored in the RAM 44.

When the portable electronic device 10 is in the locked state, N is setto be zero (N=0) (step 1: S1). When the user performs a screen operationon the touch panel 16 and then a signal is input from the touch panelcontrol circuit 46 (step 2: YES in S2), the processor 30 re-writesN(=0), which has stored in the predetermined area of the RAM 44, with 1(step 3: S3). When a signal is not input from the touch panel controlcircuit 46 (step 2: NO in S2), the processor 30 repeats the processingof S2, i.e., the processing of determining whether a signal is inputfrom the touch panel control circuit 46.

When a signal is input from the touch panel control circuit 46 (step 2:YES in S2) and N=1, the processor 30 determines whether the userperforms a next screen operation, i.e., whether a signal is input fromthe touch panel control circuit 46 (step 4: S4).

In step 4, when a signal is not input from the touch panel controlcircuit 46 (NO in step 4), the processor determines whetherpredetermined time has elapsed (step 5: S5). When the predetermined timehas elapsed without the input of a signal from the touch panel controlcircuit 46 (YES in step 5), the processor enables the display driver 40to display that the locked state cannot be released, on the display 14(step 6: S6). When the predetermined time has not elapsed (NO in step5), the processor repeats the processing of step 4.

In the meantime, in step 4, when a signal is input from the touch panelcontrol circuit 46 (YES in step 4), the number N(=1) stored in thepredetermined area of the RAM 44 is increased by 1 (step 7: S7). Theprocessor 30 reads out the predetermined area of the RAM 44 to determinewhether N reaches the number of lock codes, i.e., whether N becomes M(N=M) (step 8: S8). When N does not reach M, the processor returns tostep 4 and again determines whether a signal is input from the touchpanel control circuit 46 (step 4).

In step 8, when N reaches M, i.e., when N is equal to M (YES in step 8),the processor determines whether the input screen operation is thepreset release operation. Here, the processor determines whether theslide operation is performed in order of the right direction, the rightdirection and the left direction (step 9: S9). When it is determinedthat the input screen operation is the preset release operation (YES instep 9), the processor releases the locked state (step 10: S10).

On the other hand, in step 7, when the processor 30 determines that theinput screen operation is not the preset release operation (NO in step9), the processor enables the display driver 40 to display that thelocked state cannot be released, on the display 14 (step 6: S6). Thisdisplay may be made with characters or icons.

In the above description, the method of releasing the locked state hasbeen described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. The operations shown inFIGS. 3 and 4 are not limited to the case where the locked state isreleased and can be also applied to a case where the locked state isset. In this case, while the display 14 displays a background screen orfunction screen of a function being currently executed, when the slideoperation as described in the above release method is performed on thetouch panel 16, it is possible to set the locked state for thecorresponding function. Also, regarding the setting screen, a locksetting screen having a setting button is preferably used, instead ofthe lock release setting screen having the release button 63 shown inFIG. 5.

Also, when setting the locked state, the steps 9, 10 and 11 of theflowchart shown in FIG. 6 are ‘predetermined setting operation?’,‘setting of locked state’ and ‘display that locked state cannot be set’,respectively.

Second Illustrative Embodiment

In the below, a portable electronic device according to a secondillustrative embodiment is described. The portable electronic deviceaccording to this illustrative embodiment is different from the portableelectronic device 10 according to the first illustrative embodiment, inthe method of setting or releasing the locked state. Since theconfiguration of the portable electronic device according to thisillustrative embodiment is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, thedescription thereof is omitted. Also, the same configuration betweenfirst illustrative embodiment and the first illustrative embodiment isindicated and described with the same reference numeral.

FIGS. 7A to 7H illustrate a method of releasing a locked state in aportable electronic device according to this illustrative embodiment.First, FIG. 7A illustrates an example of the screen of the display 14 ina security locked state. This screen is a screen enabling a user torecognize the locked state, like FIG. 4A. However, in order to improvethe user's convenience, the screen may provide a hint as to a touchoperation that the user should perform so as to release a locked state,for example.

Specifically, according to the portable electronic device of thisillustrative embodiment, a mark 51 indicating a starting point of atouch operation and an annular route 52 are displayed on the display 14(refer to FIG. 7A). Both the mark 51 and the annular route 52 serve as aguide of the touch operation that the user should perform so as torelease the locked state. That is, the screen indicates that the lockedstate is released by a slide operation along the annular route 52.However, it may be not necessarily required that the user should performthe slide operation along the route 52 when releasing the locked state.

FIG. 7B illustrates that a slide operation is being performed in arightward revolving direction (clockwise direction) on the display 14and FIG. 7C illustrates a screen that is displayed on the display 14when the slide operation is performed. Here, ‘R1/2’ is displayed on thedisplay 14. This indicates that a just previous operation is a slideoperation having a half length of the entire circumference in therightward revolving direction has been performed.

FIG. 7D illustrates that a slide operation is being performed in therightward revolving direction on the display screen, following theoperation of FIG. 7B. When the slide operation is completed, ‘R1/2’ isdisplayed on the display 14, which indicates that a just previousoperation is a slide operation having a half length of the entirecircumference in the rightward revolving direction has been performed(which is omitted in FIG. 7). Additionally, an indication displayed onthe displayed 14 while performing the slide operation and an indicationdisplayed on the displayed 14 after performing the slide operation maybe displayed at positions different from each other. For example, ‘R1/2’that is displayed after performing the slide operation may be displayedat a center part of a circle, and ‘R’ that is displayed while performingthe slide operation may be displayed at a position deviated from thecenter part of the circle. Further, ‘R1/2’ and ‘R’ may be displayed bydifferent size and a different font from each other. According to aroute for the operation, the indication while performing the slideoperation may be displayed at a position to be easily seen by user. Forexample, when user performs the slide operation at a right side of theannular route 52, the indication may be displayed at a left sidedeviated from the center part of the circle. On the other hand, whenuser performs the slide operation at a left side of the annular route52, the indication may be displayed at a right side deviated from thecenter part of the circle

FIG. 7E illustrates that a slide operation has been performed in aleftward revolving direction on the screen, following the operation ofFIG. 7D and FIG. 7F illustrates a screen that is displayed on thedisplay 14 when the slide operation has been performed. Here, ‘L1’ isdisplayed on the display 14, which indicates that a just previousoperation is a slide operation having a length of the entirecircumference in the leftward revolving direction. FIG. 7G illustratesan example of a screen that is displayed on the display 14 when thelocked state is released by the operations of FIGS. 7B, 7D and 7E. Also,FIG. 7H illustrates an example of a screen that is displayed on thedisplay 14 when the locked state cannot be released by the screenoperation of the user.

FIG. 8 illustrates a release setting screen with which the user sets theoperation, which has been described with reference to FIGS. 7A to 7H, asthe release operation of the locked state. Here, the same configurationsas those of FIG. 5 are indicated with the same reference numerals andthe descriptions thereof are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 8, the release setting screen has three directionsetting icons 61 and three number-of-times setting icons 62. As thenumber of lock codes, ‘three times’ is set. In the example of FIG. 8,when a half slide operation in the rightward revolving direction, a halfslide operation in the rightward revolving direction and one slideoperation in the leftward direction are respectively performed, thelocked state can be released.

In the meantime, the slide operation that is used in the portableelectronic device of this illustrative embodiment is not limited to thecase where the locked state is released and can be also applied to acase where the locked state is set.

Also, the method of setting or releasing the locked state described inthe first and second illustrative embodiments can be executed by theslide operation on the touch panel 16. Thus, for example, compared to aconfiguration where the handwritten pattern or password is input on thetouch panel 16, a large operation area is not required. Therefore, thearea for setting and releasing the locked state is always provided onthe display 14 and an operation is performed on the touch panel 16provided on the area, so that a locked state can be set or released.

Third Illustrative Embodiment

Also, the method of setting or releasing the locked state described inthe first and second illustrative embodiments is not limited to the casewhere a locked state is set or released for all items displayed on thescreen of the display 14 and can be also applied to a case where alocked state is set or released for only a specific item. Regarding thiscase, a method of setting a locked state is described. FIGS. 9A to 9Fillustrates a method of setting a locked state in a portable electronicdevice according to this illustrative embodiment. First, FIG. 9A is alauncher screen that lists pre-registered files or programs with icons70. In the launcher screen, an icon 70 a indicating a program capable ofsetting or releasing a locked state is displayed. As shown in FIG. 9B,when the user selects the icon 70 a, programs for which a locked statecan be set are listed. From the list, the user can select a program forwhich the user desires to set a locked state. Then, by selecting aprogram and pressing a setting button 71, the user can set a lockedstate for a desired program. In the meantime, a cancel button 72 may bedisplayed together with the setting button 71.

When the user performs the same screen operation as the releaseprocessing described in the first and second illustrative embodimentsafter selecting and setting the program (refer to FIGS. 9D and 9E), theuser can set the locked state. Meanwhile, in the example shown in FIG.9, after the setting button 71 is pressed, the screen is returned to theinitial launcher screen. When the locked state is set by a series ofoperations, a screen is displayed which indicates that the locked stateis set (refer to FIG. 9F).

In the meantime, according to the portable electronic device of thisillustrative embodiment, the programs for which the locked state can beset are listed and a program for which the locked state is set isselected. However, while a program is being enabled to start and anoperation screen thereof (a function screen of a function beingcurrently executed) is being displayed on the display 14, if the abovescreen operation is performed, the locked state may be set for thecorresponding program.

Also, the screen operation for setting or setting the locked state isnot limited to the slide operation in the linear direction and may beconfigured by a combination of the other touch operations such as acircumferential slide operation, a tap operation, a double tapoperation, a flick operation, and the like. The tap operation is anoperation in which the user touches the touch panel 16 and quickly takeoff the finger. After the detection of the touch position to the touchpanel 16, the tap operation is detected by the processor 30 if the touchis not to be detected within a predetermined first period. The doubletap operation is an operation, in which the tap operation issequentially performed twice. The flick operation is an operation inwhich the user flick the finger along an arbitrary direction on thetouch panel 16. After the detection of the touch position to the touchpanel 16, the flick operation is detected by the processor 30 if thetouch position is moved over a predetermined first length or more withina predetermined second period. Also, the locked state may be set orreleased when a predetermined screen operation such as rightward slideoperation, other than a combination of the plurality of operations, iscontinuously performed by the predetermined number of times, for examplefive times.

In the meantime, the screen operation for setting or releasing thelocked state may be considered as a password. In this case,constitutional elements of the password may be defined by a type of thescreen operation and the number of times of continuous screenoperations. For example, ‘1’ is set for the rightward slide operationthat is performed one time, ‘2’ is set for the rightward slide operationthat is continuously performed two times, ‘3’ is set for the rightwardslide operation that is continuously performed three times, ‘4’ is setfor the leftward slide operation that is performed one time, and ‘5’ isset for the leftward slide operation that is continuously performed twotimes. The operations shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C correspond to the inputsof ‘2’ and ‘4.’ Here, when the password ‘2’ and ‘4’ is pre-stored in theRAM 44, the processor 30 determines that the user's operations shown inFIGS. 3A to 3C coincide with the password pre-stored in the RAM 44,i.e., the plurality of input screen operations coincides with aplurality of screen operations corresponding to the password pre-storedin the RAM 44, thereby setting or releasing the locked state. In themeantime, the password stored in the RAM 44 may be appropriately set bythe user from a setting screen displayed on the display 14.

Also, according to the portable electronic device of the first to thirdillustrative embodiments, in order to release the locked state, it hasonly to perform the contact (touch) operation on the touch panel,instead of inputting the numbers and the like on the screen of thedisplay 14. Thus, it is not necessarily required to light theillumination of the display 14. Hence, when a part or all of thefunctions of the portable electronic device are locked, the processor 30and the display driver 40 may maintain (turn off, in most cases) thebrightness (for example, luminance) of the illumination of the display14 in the same manner as the case where the locked state is set, until apredetermined screen operation is detected by the touch panel 16.Alternatively, even when the luminance of the display 14 is increased,the processor and the display driver may control so that the luminanceis a predetermined value or smaller. Thereby, it is possible to reducethe power consumption. Also, as the control is made as described above,even when the information about the just previous operation is displayedon the display 14 while the locked state is being released, it ispossible to make it difficult for the screen of the display 14 to beseen from the outside. Therefore, even when the third party other thanthe user (a person who releases the locked state) sees the display 14,it is possible to reduce a possibility that the information about therelease operation will be revealed to the third party.

In the meantime, as described above, since the screen operation forsetting or releasing the locked state described in the first to thirdillustrative embodiments requires only the relatively small operationarea, this disclosure can be applied to a small portable electronicdevice in which the area of the display 14 is small.

What is claimed:
 1. A portable electronic device comprising: a displayunit; and a processor connected to the display unit, wherein theprocessor is configured to detect an input to the display unit, and toset or release a locked state for a part or all functions of theportable electronic device, wherein an operation for releasing thelocked state is set by at least two kinds of operations and an operationsequence of the at least two kinds of the operations, and wherein whenthe at least two kinds of the operations is set and is sequentiallyperformed in the operation sequence, an indication of each independentconfirmation is displayed on the display unit, with independentconfirmation of properly completing each part of the operation sequence,and then the locked state is released.
 2. The portable electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein both of a type of an operation and anumber of times of the type of the operation is set for each of the atleast two kinds of the operations.
 3. The portable electronic deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the plurality of operations includes aslide operation along a first direction and a slide operation along asecond direction, which are different from each other, and wherein theslide operation along the first direction and the slide operation alongthe second direction are performed in predetermined order.
 4. Theportable electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the pluralityof operations includes a slide operation along a first direction, aslide operation along a second direction and an other touch operation,which are different from each other, and wherein the slide operationalong the first direction, the slide operation along the seconddirection and the other touch operation are performed in predeterminedorder.
 5. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, whereinthe operation for releasing the locked state is set by user.
 6. Theportable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the displayunit displays a process of the input from starting of the predeterminedinput to a completion of the predetermined input.
 7. The portableelectronic device according to claim 1, further comprising a soundeffect generation unit generating a sound effect, which indicates acompletion of the operation, as the operation is performed.
 8. Theportable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the displayunit displays a function screen corresponding to a function beingexecuted, and wherein, when the predetermined input is performed in astate where the locked state is released, the wherein the processor setsthe locked state for a function corresponding to the function screenbeing displayed by the display unit.
 9. The portable electronic deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising a luminance control unit thatcontrols a luminance of the display unit, wherein, when the locked stateis set for a part or all of functions of the portable electronic device,the luminance control unit controls a luminance of the display unit sothat the luminance becomes a predetermined value or smaller, until thepredetermined input is detected by the processor.
 10. A method of aportable electronic device including: a display unit; and a processorconnected to the display unit, wherein the processor is configured todetect an input to the display unit, and to set or release a lockedstate for a part or all of functions of the portable electronic device,and wherein an operation for releasing the locked state is set by atleast two kinds of operations and an operation sequence of the at leasttwo kinds of the operations, and an operation sequence of the at leasttwo kinds of operations; the method comprising: releasing the lockedstate, when the at least two kinds of the operations is set and issequentially performed in the operation sequence, with independentconfirmation of properly completing each part of the operation sequence,wherein an indication of each independent confirmation is displayed onthe display.